The video display is one very important aspect of a video game. It is important for displays to be realistic as well as technically efficient in their presentation of a game. One popular type of home video game system includes a control system connected to a standard television. Certain aspects of the video display in such a system are limited by the quality and size of the television. However, other aspects of the display can be controlled by the game system to enhance the quality of the player interaction with the game.
In typical video games, the player controls some aspect of the game, such as the movement of a playing token, the firing of shots, the selection of play sequences, etc. Player interaction is also an important aspect of a video game. It is important to maintain the player's interest in interacting with the game.
In many games, a single background appears throughout the game. The background dimensions are dictated by the size of the screen. One or more playing tokens, such as a ball, a figure, etc., appear on the background, and/or move in and out of the display. In another type of game, the background itself moves relative to the display. For example, in car race games the background is a track. The track and/or the car (playing token) may move about the display screen. In such games, the playing token as well as the background may move, or the playing token may be stationary while the background moves. Many of these games provide backgrounds that are relatively unbounded, e.g., continuous tracks, outerspace, landscapes, jungles, etc.
In some games, the background represents a playing field, such as a baseball diamond, a hockey rink, etc. In most video game systems, the entire playing field is depicted at one time on the video display. Such displays, particularly if they are limited to the dimensions of a typical television screen or arcade video game monitor, suffer from lack of realism. For example, a television screen's shape is not proportional to a hockey rink. One solution to this problem is to provide a specialized video display device for the game such as an elongated screen. This solution is generally implemented only with small hand-held games which are less expensive to produce than the home video systems and arcade games. Another common solution is to window a portion of the playing field for display. In this manner, the portion of the playing field including the primary playing token, e.g., a ball, is displayed. The non-windowed portion of the playing field, possibly including secondary playing tokens, is not displayed. In one example, a close-up view of a baseball pitcher and batter is displayed while the ball play is initiated. If the ball is hit out of the infield, the display is abruptly changed to include a view of the entire field.
Another problem with video games in which the background represents a playing field is that the user often interacts with the playing token via a control component that appears on the display. For example, in a pinball video game, the player interacts with the ball via a plunger that initiates the ball play and a set of flippers that keep the ball in play. Another example is a ping pong video game in which the player interacts with the ball via a paddle component that is repositionable along one boundary of the playing field in order to intercept the ball.
One possible configuration of a pinball game that has an elongated playing field and a set of control components is to split the playing field into an upper field and a lower field. The combination of two fields represents an entire pinball field. The lower field includes the plunger and flippers. A screen swapping method is used to display the portion of the pinball field on which the ball is currently positioned. For example, as the ball play is initiated, the lower field is visible. After the plunger initiates the play of the ball, the ball travels to the top of the pinball field and thus the upper field must be swapped into the display. The ball moves down through the upper field; when it reaches the bottom of that field, the entire field is replaced by the lower field. Such a display method does not create a realistic impression of the play of a pinball game. Further, the user loses the visual relationship between the control components and the ball and is also prevented from interacting with the game when the upper field is presented since the flippers are no longer displayed.
To increase the realism of video games, it is preferable to represent the playing field in dimensions proportional to its common dimensions. To increase the ease and enjoyment of play, it is desirable to allow the player to constantly view and use the control components. The present invention solves this and other problems in the prior art.